The New Arrival.
SUMMARY: Another Autobot arrives in response to Optimus Prime's call. Unable to announce it's arrival due to damaged comm equipment, it turns up at their temporary base. This one's arrival causes a stir, however for she is the first femme bot any of them have seen for centuries!
SETTING: Movieverse
CHARACTERS: The four surviving Movie Autobots, plus Rian (OC), Mirage, and Cliffjumper. Fiona and Shaun Raven (human OC'S). Jazz, Prowl, Hound and Sunblazer get a mention.
PAIRINGS: None (Although Mirage et al get their hopes up!)
DISCLAIMER: Transformers belongs to Hasbro and Dreamworks. I make no claim on them, or any of their created characters, nor do I make any profit from this or them. Rian, Sunblazer, Fiona Raven, and Shaun Raven, however, belong to me.
A/N: If anyone thinks I've really misrepresented the characters here, particularly Ironhide, then I apologize, but the situation is unusual, and may cloud the 'bot's judgements temporarily. Also, they do come to their senses, as you will see. Also, you should understand that in human terms, Rian is the equivalent of seventeen. Old enough to understand certain issues, young enough to get scared.
The New Arrival.
It was amazing, how far my communications equipment could scan.
Having detected and homed in on Optimus's signal, I was now analysing the Earth's "internet." I had already learned all the languages I needed-about fifteen-to be able to run through every news story I could find about the big battle between giant robots that had occurred on the planet I was now headed for. From these, I worked out that the Autobots had won,-but had lost Jazz-and all but two of the Decepticons had been killed. It was something of a pyrrhic victory, however, for the AllSpark had been lost to us forever, destroyed at the same time.
Unless the half-whispered rumours were true, about mech and femme being able to temporarily combine Sparks in order to create a new one, as a race we faced extinction.
If the rumours were true, I may have become a valuable commodity to both factions. I would have to hope I did not run into either of the two surviving Decepticons remaining on Earth. Or any that may have arrived since.
I only encountered problems as I tried to move between the fifth and fourth planets of the system, (Optimus's signal originated on one of the landmasses of the third). There was a major collection of rocky space debris, and my protoform took a major battering. Although it was designed to protect my delicate instrumentation and fine mechanics from the hazards of space and of landing, it had not been designed to cope with this volume of space detritus. My navigations and telemetry, and my communications network both took enough hits to go offline. I would have time to effect auto-repairs on only one of them, and at the moment, navigation was my most urgent need. Turning off the auto repair on the comms equipment, I worked on repairing the nav equipment, relying on other sensors to gauge my distance from the red planet that was fourth from this solar system's sun.
I did not want to fall into it's gravity well. The long space journey had taken its toll, my resources were depleted, and I only had enough energy reserves to make one landing, and then move about the planet. If I landed on the red planet, it would be a very long time before I could convert enough of its mass to attempt to take off again.
I managed to keep clear of the red planet, and got enough of my main navigational array working to make sure I landed on the correct landmass of the third planet. When I landed, it was with a resounding thud, and once I had cooled enough from the friction created by atmospheric entry from space, I unfolded from my protective cometary configuration back into my robotic form.
Unfortunately, the navigational fine tuning had still been offline upon entry, and I was aware that I had landed quite a distance from where I remembered Optimus's signal coming from. Oh well, at least I wasn't in the sea, or on the wrong continent. Crouching in case any natives were observing, I listened for the sound of vehicular activity. Earlier scans from the edge of the solar system had revealed non-sentient vehicle forms to be commonplace on this world.
My audio receivers picked up a constant stream of engine noise so, still crouching, I made my way towards the source of the noise. It was a stretch of man-made substance, and the vehicular forms travelled atop it.
Staying in a crouch, I watched for some time, looking for a vehicle common enough to pass unnoticed and of the right size to accommodate my form. I soon picked out a vehicle whose colour and make were common enough, and its size was appropriate.
A few minutes later, a red Nissan Micra slipped, almost unnoticed, into the traffic stream.
As I drove along, tailing another vehicle heading in the general direction of the signal, I re-activated the auto-repair on my communications, and tested it to see what I had left.
It was pretty bad. My receiving equipment was patchy, and all my sending equipment would need more than auto-repair to fix. I recalled from the newsreels that Ratchet was on Earth and had survived. Hopefully, he could fix my damaged communications array. Upon testing my receiving equipment again, I did find that I could access some Earth communications systems-mainly the Internet.
Slowing down outside a residential area, I tapped into a "wireless broadband" signal originating from one of the nearest buildings. Once I had access to the Internet, I fashioned my own, faster communications bridge, and scoured all entries containing the word "Autobot". Conducting a search with this word led me to many entries, but one, on a site called LiveJournal, drew my eye. It was a written piece by one particular LiveJournal user, called FionaR74.
"I'm sure most of you are aware of the big robot battle that occurred a few weeks ago-if not, then where were you? It occurred between two factions, the Autobots and the Decepticons. It was the Autobots who won-which was good for us humans- and their leader, Optimus Prime, sent out a call to other Autobots to join him.
Well, I can't say much more because it's classified, but let's just say that the Autobot liaison, whom I happen to know, is going to have his work cut out for him. Two more Autobots-called Mirage and Prowl-have landed, and they have said they know of at least two more who are on their way."
This was of interest to me, as the user had suggested she was in contact with somebody who was officially in contact with my Autobot comrades. In fact, based on the casual way she was bouncing certain names and terms around, I would be very surprised if she were not in contact with them herself.
I searched her profile to find some clue to her location, and was alarmed at how easy it was. There in her profile was her name and address. I memorised it and then deleted it. If I could find it so easily, so could the Decepticons. Without knowing it, by making that information public, she had just put her entire family at risk.
I got one more thing from the Internet-a map to FionaR74's house, and then disengaged from the Internet. I pulled out, and followed the map towards the location of this LiveJournal user.
Now I had a solid destination in mind, I didn't waste any time in getting there. It was a long trip-three Earth days.
As I pulled into FionaR74's street, it was still light. I needed to work out how to contact the LiveJournal user. While it was still light, converting to robot form and tapping on all the house windows till I found her was out of the question. Maybe her family knew about Autobots and would not be scared, but the same could not necessarily be said for her neighbours. However, I had to contact her.
I eventually decided to contact her via her latest LiveJournal entry. I would have to hope she didn't think it was somebody playing a prank on her.
I logged onto LiveJournal, and easily hacked through it's primitive defences to create myself a LiveJournal account-"Rianbot4"-and went to her journal. I added her as a friend, hacked into her account to add myself as a friend to hers, and composed a reply.
"FionaR74, leaving your address public on LiveJournal was foolish. Using that information, any Decepticon could find you. For that reason, I have deleted this information from your journal for your own safety. My name is Rian. I am an Autobot, and would like you to introduce me to your official liaison friend. I am the red Nissan Micra outside your house. If you look out of a window facing onto the street, you will see me there." I marked it as "friends-only view" and sent it.
Then there was nothing to do but wait.
I didn't get any response from her on her LiveJournal page, although my constant monitoring of it did register her logging on, accessing the entry, and then logging off. A curtain in a window was pulled aside, and a small pale face peered out. I flashed my headlights in response.
A few minutes later, a human with pale brown shoulder-length hair, a thin build, and a pale complexion opened the front door and peered out. After scanning the street with her eyes, she let herself out of the door.
"Alright, if there's anyone there, you can come out, because I've not fallen for your trick." she said. I was disappointed. It was as I had feared. She thought somebody was messing about. It was getting dark by now, but not dark enough to risk converting into robot form in a residential street. I flashed my headlights at her again.
The girl approached me, walking around me to check nobody was hiding behind me, and peering in my windows to make sure nobody was hiding inside. She muttered "If I hear sniggering in a moment, I will find some way to make them pay." Then she bent down, putting her hand gently on my hood, and whispered "Rian? Are you Rian?"
"Yes, I am Rian." I said back in an equally quiet voice. "Please let me speak to your liaison friend. I can drive you there if you like." I popped open the passenger door, which was the side she was on. "Come on in, my sensors suggest that the ambient temperature out there is dropping."
She didn't get in, although she stuck her head in for a good look around, possibly still thinking there was somebody in there playing a joke on her. She noted the discreet Autobot logo on the dash, walked around again, this time noticing the less discreet Autobot logo on my hood.
"Oh my, this is for real, this isn't a prank, is it?" she whispered, more to herself than to me. "Um-My name's Fiona. Wait here Rian." she said in a slightly louder voice. I was pleased with her manners, that she addressed me by name. She ran up the drive to her house. Sticking her head in the door, she yelled "DAD!"
"WHAT?" was the answering bellow from inside the house.
"WORK!" she shouted back. "A RED NISSAN MICRA THAT'S MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE!"
This obviously meant something to the male human, for I heard sounds that suggested somebody had just got up from a chair very fast. A man joined Fiona at the door, and she pointed at me. He bent down to whisper in her ear, something I probably wasn't meant to hear, but as my audio pickups were at maximum I heard what he said anyway.
"Which faction, Fiona? Did you see any logos? Shapes? Colours? Tell me!" Fiona rolled her eyes.
"Dad, it has a very obvious Autobot logo right there on the end of the hood. Had it been a Decepticon logo, I would have come in, bolted the door, and then told you!" She gave an exasperated snort. "I'm not that thick, you know!"
"Okay, Fiona, I'm sorry, that wasn't what I was suggesting. I was just worried. I didn't know that you could tell one symbol from the other. After all, I'm just your father and this is just my work!" Fiona rolled her eyes again.
"Dad, you're the official liaison for giant robots from outer space! That is just cool! Of course I'm going to take an interest! It's also a really good survival tactic to know which side they are on just in case you do run into one. So I memorised what you were told on that sheet of paper you had upstairs." She recited from memory. "'Red optics is always a good indicator of a hostile robot. Don't only trust the optic colour however, the enemy robot Frenzy's optics were blue-look for the logo. Symbol colour can vary, but the Autobot logo has often been red, the Decepticons favour a purple logo. The important thing to check is; which of the shapes displayed below does it resemble?' And I memorised them Dad, and that car is definitely displaying the Autobot logo."
Her father nodded, but by now his attention was focused on me. He walked towards me with his hands out, fingers splayed, palms-out.
"Hello Autobot Rian. Welcome to Earth. I am Shaun Raven, the official Autobot-human liaison officer. The other Autobots have been loaned a hangar by the Army as a sort of base. Would you like me to take you there?"
"Yes please." I said, flicking open all the doors so he could choose which seat to sit in.
He immediately took the driver's seat. I didn't say anything, after all I could have kept the driver's door shut, but I did hope he wasn't expecting to do the driving. If he tried I would have to tell him to leave off. I did not like being not in control of my own body in either robot or car form.
Fiona took the opportunity to slide into my passenger seat. "I'm coming too, Dad!" she said. "After all, it was me she made contact with!" Her father looked as if he were about to argue with her, but then noticed the mulish expression on his daughter's face, and thought better of it. He sighed.
"That she did. I would prefer that I kept my family separate from my work, at some point it's bound to get dangerous, but I guess this should be a straightforward mission, just like the others. This time you can come. Perhaps Sam and Mikaela will be there." As they put on their seat belts, I started the engine. Shaun put both of his hands on my steering wheel.
"I'm sorry to butt in here, but I'll be doing the driving if you don't mind." I said. "This is my body, and how would you like somebody else controlling your movements?"
"That's fine, but I have to at least look like I'm driving you." said Shaun. "If I just signal you which way to turn by a very small tug on the steering wheel in the right direction, is that okay?"
"That's fine." I said, and we started off.
"Who's arrived then?" I asked Shaun.
"The leader, Optimus Prime, the medic Ratchet, the weapons specialist Ironhide, the scout Bumblebee, the covert specialist Mirage, another scout called Cliffjumper, the law enforcement 'bot Prowl, the holographic specialist Hound, and oh yes, they've managed to revive First Lieutenant Jazz!"
"Jazz is alive? I heard Megatron ripped him in half. Must have ruptured his Spark chamber for it to kill him, and that always causes Spark-death. Spark-death can't be reversed."
"It looks like the act of ripping him in half sealed off part of his Spark chamber with distorted plating." Shaun explained. "His Spark was discovered, only barely alight, in the top right hand side of his casing. It was touch and go, but that medic knew what he was doing and managed to pull it off. He's alive, and from what Optimus Prime says, his brush with death hasn't tempered his actions with caution one bit!"
"Jazz is very brave." I said. "I served in his unit once. Jazz, Leader Prime, Bumblebee and Ratchet I know, but I've never met Ironhide, Prowl, Mirage, Hound, or Cliffjumper. They must have all been in a different unit-I know that the Autobot forces were split into different units going different ways to increase the chances that one or more of us would make it. I don't suppose there's another one called Sunblazer, by any chance?" I asked. I had received no news of my sibling since we had become separated.
"I'm afraid not." said Shaun. "I would have remembered that name, I know all the Autobots who have arrived so far."
By this time, we had reached the Autobot base, which was separate from the nearby Army base, with a ten-foot wall surrounding it and a big meshed gate. Shaun took out a swipe card and swiped it through the lock. The doors opened, and I drove us in.
We stopped in the middle of the parking and turning area, and Fiona and her father got out.
"Come on, Fiona, I'll go and tell Optimus Prime that Rian is here and I suppose you'd better come too. If you're going to insist on getting involved, he should meet you properly. If things get dangerous, I want him to know that you are priority one for protection before me." Fiona looked excited. Shaun turned to me.
"Wait here, Rian, we'll let them know you're here. The five you don't know might get jumpy if they see you, it's best I ask Optimus to come out and bring you in and introduce you. That's what I had to do with the last four arrivals." he said apologetically.
I transformed into robot form.
"Wow!" breathed Fiona, looking up at me.
"That's okay, I've been waiting for the last several thousand years, ten more of your minutes won't make that much of a difference." I said. I stooped to look at Fiona, who extended a hand. Very carefully, I took her hand between my thumb and one fingertip, and shook it. I had learned about this particular human custom from the Internet. "Pleased to meet you in this form at last, Fiona." I said. They turned and entered the building.
About a minute later, I saw a quartet of other vehicles arrive at the gates. One of them must have sent a signal, for they did not need to use a swipe card, the doors swung open to admit them. There was a black Topkick SUV, a shiny yellow Chevrolet Camaro, a small red car that was about my vehicle size, and a sleek racing car in blue and white. As the gates swung open and I turned to face the vehicles, they got an unobstructed front-on view of me.
The Topkick stalled so abruptly that the red car behind it rammed right into it's rear-end, and I winced at the sound of tormented metal. The blue and white sports car managed to swerve just in time to avoid a two-car pile-up turning into a three-car pile-up. It stopped to my right. The Chevy Camaro seemed to be the only vehicle that was acting anything like normally, stopping just beside the Topkick. A young human boy got out.
The red car managed to disentangle itself from the Topkick, which was making an alarming snarling noise that was nothing to do with its engine. The moment the red car freed itself, the Topkick transformed into a big, heavily armed robot with a gigantic cannon mounted on each arm. I thought it was about to berate the red car, but instead, the heavily-armed mech couldn't take it's optics off me.
The red car came around to my left side, and the three remaining in car form all transformed at the same moment.
I only knew the Chevy's robot form. "Bumblebee!" I cried in welcome.
"Rian, you made it too!" he called.
"Hey, you got your voice back!" I said. Bumblebee nodded.
"Hey Rian, meet Ironhide, Cliffjumper and Mirage." he said. As he looked at them, and me, he suddenly sounded puzzled. "What's wrong with them?" he said, suddenly uncertain. "Why are they all staring at you?"
"It-it's a-a femme." the heavily-armed 'bot stammered.
"Tell me I'm not seeing things, Cliffjumper!" whispered the blue and white skinny robot the sports car had become.
"If you are, I'm seeing things too, Mirage." said the red robot the small car had become. "Most welcome and beautiful hallucination I've seen in hundreds of years."
They were all staring at me in a most unsettling way, but none of them were talking to me, and for no reason I could at that point explain, I felt threatened.
"You are real, aren't you?" the heavily-armed 'bot asked me-at last speaking to me, although the feeling of being threatened didn't get any less. "Hound, if that's you playing a trick on us, I'll blast you into your component parts!"
"Y-yes, I'm real." I said. As the heavily-armoured robot took a step towards me, reaching out one big black hand towards me, my fear mounted and I took two of my own steps back, raising my own arms in front of me. The skinny blue-and-white robot noticed, and spread his hands in a disarming manner.
"Hey, don't be scared of old Ironhide there, he's not going to hurt you." he said. Ironhide looked at him.
"Less of the 'old' Mirage, I can keep up with any of you younger ones, in any way you see fit to challenge me."
The blue and white barely looked at him before continuing.
"None of us are going to hurt you, lovely. I'm Mirage, that's Cliffjumper, and Ironhide there may have big guns, but don't be scared of that, he sure won't be using them on you."
Somehow, this was not at all reassuring, and I took another step back.
"What's wrong with them?" asked Bumblebee. "Have they gone mad? I'm sorry, Rian, I don't know what's got into them!"
"I think I do." said Bumblebee's human companion. "Bumblebee, go and get Optimus Prime pronto, and tell him to bring the other biggest 'bot there is-I think that's Ratchet, isn't it? I think we're about to end up with a situation here and we need them here now!" Bumblebee took one look at the expression on his human companion's face, and headed off into the building that Fiona and her father had headed into. That avenue of escape was denied to me by the skinny form of Mirage, who was right between it and I.
The human boy jumped in front of Ironhide, who was taking another step towards me, shouting "IRONHIDE, STOP!", but Ironhide seemed hardly to notice him, stepping over him as he advanced closer. This step brought his fingertips way too close to me for comfort, and I felt them brush the surface of my face as I took three more steps backwards.
Mirage suddenly smiled, and faded out. Distracted, I turned to look at the empty space where he had been, wondering if I could now make a break for it to the base and hide somewhere in it. Then I felt fingers gently settle on my lower arm and on my shoulder, gently feeling and slightly stroking the contours of my arm. Mirage reappeared right next to me, it was his hands I felt. I cried out and pulled away, although the part of my mind that was not quickly headed towards panicking realised how he'd got his name.
"Ironhide, Cliffjumper, she is real!" Mirage cried.
"We've saved!" said Ironhide. "We have a new source of Sparklings to keep our race alive! We're not going to die out!"
I took two more steps back, fear heading towards all-out panic. Was this going to be what the rest of my life would be-acting as a substitute for the AllSpark? I could not believe the response I was receiving. These were supposed to be Autobots, my comrades in arms, my companions! This sort of reaction I might have expected had I been fool enough to go into a Decepticon stronghold, but from Autobots? No, this amongst those who were supposed to be my comrades I had not expected. I would happily play my part in saving our kind from extinction, but not like this! Didn't I get a say on how often, with whom, and when?
"No-please-we're on the same side-we're supposed to be friends-please!" I managed to stammer out.
Mirage flickered out again, this time reappearing behind me, halting my retreat with gentle but firm hands curling about my shoulders.
"Of course, we're all your friends here!" said Cliffjumper, trying to soothe me with his words, (without success) smiling at me and moving closer. "You have no idea how pleased we are to see you! I guess it's a bit overwhelming, but that's okay, we can take turns. Who do you want to go with first? Who'll be the lucky 'bot to get this world's first Sparkling?"
I could take no more of this, and screamed "I AM NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR THE ALLSPARK! GET OFF ME! GET AWAY!" I lashed out in a panic, catching both Mirage and Cliffjumper with my flailing limbs. Had I had any way and anywhere to run, I would have fled as fast as I could move.
A second later, a deeper voice called out.
"AUTOBOTS, FALL BACK NOW! WHERE ARE YOUR MANNERS? LEAVE HER ALONE!"
Every head in the courtyard turned, every optic focused on the source of the last command. At the entrance to the base, behind and to my right, stood our Leader Optimus Prime, Ratchet, and Bumblebee, along with Shaun and Fiona Raven. It was Leader Prime who had spoken, and he looked furious. However, he hadn't finished.
"Mirage, take your hands off her, Cliffjumper, silence your vocal projector, and use your processor clusters before you activate it again, Ironhide, remember your role as a protector of the young, and back off! Can't you tell she isn't an adult? All of you, back off, she's a sub-adult! She may be a femme, but she's young, and your unseemly behaviour is scaring her. Back off! Give her some space!"
Mirage disappeared again, reappearing several feet away. Cliffjumper looked at Leader Prime, and backed away, and Ironhide managed somehow to look like a guilty Sparkling caught stealing Energon.
Ironhide stepped back, two big steps, and then he was the first of the three suddenly shamefaced mechs to speak.
"He's right, we're scaring her. Look at her, cowering back, and no wonder, with us acting like a bunch of over-energised Decepticons! Shame on us!" He crouched down, which brought his optics to the same level as my own.
"I'm sorry for our lack of manners, but we haven't seen a femme for centuries, It by no means excuses our behaviour, but maybe it will help to explain it." He addressed the others again. "Perhaps Ratchet should do a scan on our processors to see if they are degrading in the personality department, because I'm sure that is what it seemed like to our sister-in-arms there." Once again, he addressed me.
"I'm Ironhide, head weapons specialist, and I am very pleased to meet you, and not just because you're a femme. Will you accept my apology for my regrettable lapse of manners and decorum?"
"And mine." Mirage said, hanging his head. "I used my specialist abilities to invade your space. I'm sorry."
"So am I." said Cliffjumper. "I am known to be rash and impulsive, and reach the wrong conclusions before I think things through, and I was very rude to you. It was just-we'd given all the femmes up for dead, there were so few that we thought they had all died, although we all still held out hope, of course. When we saw you, we thought a wish had come true. Here you were, turning up like a dream, just when we'd decided we Cybertronians were doomed, as a race, to die out."
Leader Prime spoke up again, sounding very solemn.
"If Rian runs out on us-and after the reception you just gave her, I would not be surprised if she did-then that possibility is still very possible." Optimus said.
"We could go after her, and bring her back." Cliffjumper said. "After all, what price the survival of our race? I'm sure she would come to understand."
"No, Cliffjumper!" exclaimed Ironhide. "The moment we do that, what makes us better than the Decepticons, who themselves would justify Sparkrape by saying it was for the survival of our kind? We are Autobots, Cliffjumper, we stand for freedom, for everybody's right to freedom, including Rian's here. To go after Rian, to drag her back here and force her to bear Sparklings for us, would abrogate her rights in that way, and then how could we claim to stand for freedom, when we would be denying that right to a very valuable member of our team?" Ironhide moved to one side, which left me, if I wanted, a clear dash to the still-open gates to the base.
"You are very welcome, Autobot soldier Rian, to stay here, but I am sure we would all understand if out actions and words make you wish to leave us." He sighed, looking down at his feet.
I looked at the others.
Mirage, too, could not bear to look me in the optics, and he looked totally Sparksick. Cliffjumper was cringing, would have been in tears if he could weep like an organic, and was unable to take his optics off me, as if scared I would vanish into thin air. My panic subsided, replaced by sorrow as I realised that from their point of view, they had been given a chance, and had probably completely blown it. How could I leave them feeling like that? Well, of course, I couldn't.
I moved first to Mirage, giving his lower arm a friendly clasp. As he looked up, I moved to Cliffjumper, giving his shoulder a gentle touch. He looked up, in wonder and some sort of relief, as I moved away to face Ironhide. To touch this experienced veteran would have seemed somehow patronising. So instead of reaching out a hand to him, I saluted smartly.
"Autobot Rian reporting for duty, Sir." I said. "I understand, that as an Autobot and a Cybertronian, I am expected to do my duty, but I respectfully request that my duty to my race be carried out at my pace, when I choose, and with whom I choose. This does not mean any of you will be left out, but the choice of who and when and how often must be mine, or I fear my emotional response to having my choice vetoed may lose me to you all. At the moment, the time is just not right." I looked up at first Mirage, then Cliffjumper, and then Ironhide, who were all regarding me with anxious looks in their optics.
"Gentlemen, I accept your apologies. Thank you. I have been travelling through space a long time, and an opportunity to recharge would be most welcome at the moment. If someone could show me to somewhere where I could absorb light or fuel to convert to energy, I would be most grateful." I said.
"We can do better than that!" Bumblebee said enthusiastically. "We have been able to build recharging chambers! Come, I will take you!"
I followed my old friend, the eager scout Bumblebee, into the base, and as he had promised, there were recharging chambers there-something I had not seen since the early days of the Autobot-Decepticon conflict.
"Wow, you know how to make a 'bot feel better!" I said, clasping Bumblebee's arm. Leader Prime had followed us in.
"Autobot Rian, you have the freedom we respect so highly to do your duty as a Cybertronian as and when you feel comfortable to." he said. "We thank you for recognising and accepting this duty, which is a great and weighty one to lay on such young shoulders. However, I must ask that after your recharge, you discharge your duty as an Autobot at 0900 hours tomorrow, by which time a full recharge should have taken place. Please report to my office at that time for a full debriefing and I will fill you in on the situation so far. Your orders are to recharge until 0800 hours tomorrow. Thank you again, and until 0900, you are dismissed, soldier." he said.
"Yes Sir!" I said, climbing into the nearest recharging unit. Leader Prime turned to Bumblebee.
"Bumblebee, warn Hound, Prowl and Jazz that Autobot Rian is with us, and that they are not to scare her more than she already has been. Tell them that she has promised to keep the race going but on her own terms. Tell them she is not to be pestered or coerced in any way."
"Yes Sir, although I don't think that Prowl and Jazz will need too much warning. They are more-occupied-with each other." Bumblebee actually sounded a bit embarrassed.
"Yes, I understand. "said Leader Prime, not sounding at all embarrassed or surprised. "Well, warn them anyway. I am sure they will, if required, play their part in the survival of or kind, but as with Rian, the choice to do so or otherwise is theirs, and we must respect that."
Bumblebee nodded as he pushed down the Perspex lid of the recharge unit I had climbed into, and as the recharge began, I surrendered completely to it.
Tomorrow, I would have to face the Sparkling issue again, but I was sure that when fully recharged, and knowing that I was in control of the situation, I would be able to work something out.
However, that was another day entirely.